[ashikns]

This is relying on the patient being stupid. I would always prefer just an honest explanation of things rather than pseudo-science drugs. And if I do discover that it's a pseudo-science drug then I've lost all confidence in that doctor. Doctors should stop pretending that they have access to some divine knowledge and everyone else is stupid.

And this interpretation is charitable, assuming that they wanted the patient to feel better via placebo. A different (and more likely) interpretation being they just wanted to charge for something extra.